chapter 27:Bits Of The Puzzle

Harry frowned in thought as he left the DADA classroom. Professor Quirrell had once again failed to teach them very much, but now that he was actually paying attention he could see that the teacher's stutter was faked.

"Thank goodness for the study group." Hermione sighed from just behind him as they made their way down the corridor. "If not for that and the books you tracked down for us, we'd be falling so far behind…"

"Plus, it really doesn't hurt that Harry keeps acting as the tutor, and he's so easy on the eyes." Padma commented, quietly enough that if Harry didn't possess extraordinary hearing, he would have missed the comment.

"Padma!" Sue Li scolded almost as quietly.

"What? You know it's true…"

Harry shook his head in amused bemusement, then shifted the bag he was carrying. The next lesson was History and Binns would still be reciting the first-year textbook word for word. Harry had prepared and read ahead (as had pretty much all the other Ravenclaws), meaning that the final lesson of the day was effectively a free period for him.

He had a few letters to write and some notes to add to the booklet he was using.

Whatever was wrong with Quirrell, it seemed to be getting worse.

Even the other students were starting to complain about the aroma of garlic surrounding the DADA teacher, an aroma that Harry's enhanced senses had picked up in the first lesson, along with a secondary scent which somehow smelled familiar, but which he couldn't place, yet kept niggling at his mind. It was a scent that was almost sickly sweet, yet at the same time, somehow sour, almost catching in his throat…

Once again, Harry shook off the train of thought and made a mental note to visit Fluffy again after tea. Perhaps he could help Hagrid take it on its regular evening run while three teachers kept watch over the room in its absence.

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"The last of our matches is coming up in a couple of weeks." Roger Davis stated as everyone sat round the table that several seventh-year students had enchanted for them as an extra-credit assignment, working from an idea that Hermione had provided. Above the table, small miniatures of the various Quidditch players floated, most of them well-painted but one of them still rather plain and Roger indicated that figure. "They've switched their third chaser… again… so we're not certain who it is. Cho, they've got Percy Weasley as their Seeker. He's a technical player, better than average but not nearly as good as his older brother Charlie was last year. However, he's got a Comet S3, so he'll have a higher top speed than you. If you can, try to get him into a high-maneuver chase, the advantage will be completely yours then."

Cho nodded as she made several notes.

""Their Keeper and captain is still Oliver Wood. Chasers, be warned that he's good. Not quite Protego level, but good. Be aware that he does have a slightly older broom and it seems to have a small but noticeable delay when sliding to the left. Not much, maybe half a second at most, but Omnioculars have proved it's there. We'll have to plan out appropriate tactics to capitalize on that, but he's known to adapt fast to new tactics, so we'll need a lot of tactics to switch between."

The other two Chasers nodded.

"Beaters, you're up against the Weasley Twins. Alone, they're about average, but when it comes to teamwork techniques, they're both incredibly skilled and highly unpredictable. Good news, they treat it as a big joke most of the time and have less than two years experience. Bad news, the last time they got serious, they sent both the-then Slytherin Beaters and their Keeper to the Infirmary. If the Slytherin Seeker hadn't caught the Snitch, the cup would be in McGonogall's office this year. Counter-Beating will be your primary mission. Keep them distracted or simply keep the Bludgers away from them. I'd prefer to not rely on Potter's ability to deflect Bludgers any more than I absolutely have to.

"Now, the Gryffindors have a tendency to try and either flank or simply charge straight down the middle, but they don't seem to have much in the way of vertical thinking. Most of their techniques have a maximum climb or dive of about twenty-five degrees."

As he spoke, the floating figures started flying around the mock-up of the Quidditch pitch, sparkles of light indicating the positions of the virtual Quidditch, Bludgers and Snitch while each figure left a thin trail of light indicating where they had been.

"Now, in the matches I've been able to find out about, they usually start with a drill down the center in order to try and get an early goal, claiming the momentum for themselves. Beaters, aim ahead of them to slow them enough for us Chasers to do a Weavers Shuttle to claim the Quaffle…"

Harry paid close attention as Roger Davis continued to sketch out the possible counters to the techniques that the Gryffindors were known to use regularly.

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"Quite a table." Harry noted, looking at the oak-and-felt setup closely as most of the Quidditch team filed out of the room. "I thought the lines the figurines left behind them was a nice touch."

"Hermione said it was from a Muggle thing called Tron." Roger shrugged. "No clue what that is, a mover or something?"

"A movie." Harry realized even as he pulled a small spiral-bound notebook out of his inner pocket. A second search produced a ball-point pen and he flipped open the notebook, leafing through it until he came to the page headed "Movies to purchase".

"What are those?" Roger asked curiously, craning to see the list. "Star Wars? Star Trek?"

"They're Muggle Plays that have been recorded, a bit like newspaper pictures, but with sound and proper color." Harry explained.

"Really? Neat."

"However, this table." Harry redirected the conversation. "Can it be linked to the Quidditch Pitch to show the action in real-time? And if it can, how many can be linked, and how far away will it work?"

"What are you getting at?" Davis asked slowly.

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Professors Hooch and Vector stared at Harry, then at each other in near shock.

"By Merlin's Beard!" Vector said almost worshipfully. "Doing that would revolutionize how people follow Quidditch!"

"If it could be synchronized with the Wireless commentary, that would make it even better." Hooch breathed in delight. "Vector, can you come up with a way to record the games for it? Maybe enchanted tokens that are put into the tables to replay a specific match?"

"If my students can do this, I'll give them all Outstandings in their NEWTS." Vector agreed. "Mr Potter, Mr Davis, ten points to Ravenclaw for this idea. Now if you will excuse me, it's time to make my students hate me by putting all this work onto them!"

"You can tie it into the spell-scan security arrays!" Hooch suggested as Vector bustled out of the room. "I hope that she heard me…"

"This is going to revolutionize Quidditch!" Davis whispered.

"I wonder how expensive the results would be…" Harry mused. "And if more than one stadium can be linked… I think I need to talk to Professor Vector. Excuse me."

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"Fetch!"

Harry hurled the log into the air and Fluffy lolloped after it with an overlapping trio of joyful barks. Hagrid laughed as he passed his canteen of water to Harry for the younger boy to drink from.

"Fluffy loves playin' fetch." He smiled. "An' yer great at throwin' fer 'im."

As if on command, Fluffy skidded to a stop in front of them and this time it was Hagrid who picked up the five-foot piece of wood.

"'Oo's a good boy." He rumbled happily. "Wanna fetch? Okay, fetch!"

Hagrid half-spun to pick up speed, then he sent the log soaring into the air. Fluffy briefly toppled over as all three of his heads tried to watch its arc, then with a thundering of paws, he was off again.

"So, Fluffy's helping to guard the Resurrection stone, right?" Harry prompted and Hagrid shook his head.

"Nope. Dat stone's jest a story."

"Ah, so the Philosopher's Stone." Harry deduced, then he looked up to see Hagrid's shocked expression. "Don't worry, I won't blab about it. I value our friendship too much to risk it over simple gossip."

"Ye're a good lad, 'Arry." Hagrid rumbled, patting him on his back hard enough that most full-grown wizards would have been plowed into the ground. "Yep, it's all top-secret an' hush-hush."

"As long as Fluffy doesn't have a weakness, like falling asleep after eating potatoes." Harry joked.

"Nope, 'tis music dat does it." Hagrid said absently as he hurled the log once again. "Ah used ta play 'im ta sleep in da evenings an' 'e'd fall asleep in ma lap… jest like Norbert does now. Once Fluffy's got tired, ya wanna see Norbert again?"

"I'd love to." Harry smiled. "How long before she moves onto solids?"

"Another coupla months." Hagrid shrugged as Fluffy skidded to a stop in front of them. "Havin' the kids 'elp out by mixin' up 'er food saves loadsa time."

Harry nodded, then he threw the slightly-gnawed log for Fluffy to chase again.

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Axefist.

An opportunity has arisen that will help to dispel at least some of the damage to the Potter name caused by the actions of the Daily Prophet. Professor Septimus Vector is working on a project that would allow people to watch Quidditch live from far away via the use of magical models somewhat similar to those used in Wizarding Chess, models which fly above a model of a Quidditch pitch.

The details aren't all that important (and I admit that I personally do not currently understand them) but I would like to set up a business in manufacturing said models once the prototypes have been tested. I do not expect the profits to be great, but the other benefits will, in my opinion, compensate.

I intend to approach all of the Quidditch teams about placing the required arrays in their stadiums, arrays which are linked to tokens that can be placed in the tables to form the required connection. In the long run, special models of each and every new player will prove fairly profitable since the fans will spend more money on better models of the players they support the most. Larger tables can be sold to pubs and clubs (such as the Three Broomsticks or the Gentlewizard's Society) to allow for crowds meaning that rental or connection fees (split with the participating teams) may prove to be a long-term source of income.

Although I detest using my fame, in this case I believe the outcome supports it. I have asked Professor Vector to contact you once the prototype is completed and the runic arrays fully documented to allow for duplication. She will oversee the main project and I have already given her permission to use my name in the literature as the future primary investor.

In related news, please try to discover who currently owns the Daily Prophet and if there are shares in it, who currently hold them. Given certain events, it would please me to eventually own an outright majority of the Daily Prophet in order to prevent them from spreading baseless libel aimed at damaging my reputation and thus the potential for greater profits in the future.

The reason I have taken the time to inform you of this is simple. Should Gringotts decide to participate in any way (however small), it will come to the attention of the Wizarding world that the Goblins have provided a means to enjoy Quidditch even more than before. This sort of publicity may help smooth interactions with future generations of wizards, hopefully reducing costs and thus increasing profits.

May those who seek to beggar you die in highly improbable accidents that leave you totally blameless.

Harry James Potter.

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Axefist stroked his chin thoughtfully as he read the letter again.

He could see the potential of the Quidditch device, even Goblins appreciated the game (albeit mainly because the walking roasts often injured each other) and being able to see the moves rather than simply rely on verbal descriptions was a very tempting thought.

As for the Daily Prophet request, it was perhaps the most elegant way of taking revenge that he had ever seen. Most of the staff wouldn't understand why printing the truth was important even if you tied them up and placed them over a flame-bed fueled by the lies of their paper.

Axefist picked up a quill and scribbled a short note that he then placed in a metal sphere. As the sphere rolled down the pipe set next to his desk, he leaned back with a sense of satisfaction.

The project was a long-term one that would take several years, but by the time that his client finished school, he would indeed own a newspaper.

Perhaps even one that printed real news, like over half the Muggle ones.